In this newsletter you will find the April eLearning Challenge and a simple new digital tool to use in class. Additionally, I am providing information about free professional development opportunities at South Vermillion and outside of South Vermillion.

April eLearning Challenge

This badge will take you onto Twitter to gain EdTech resources from other teachers through Digital Tool Twitter Chats. You will learn the importance of hashtags and usefulness of twubs.com.

Answer Garden is a new, modern tool that will display 2 to 3 word answers at a glance in a picture format. Much like Padlet, it is a digital scribble board that keeps track of frequency. In my example below, the beach was the most popular answer and of course it is the largest text!

Start at the top and work your way down! The first step is to name your Answer Garden.

The nest step is to choose your mode. I would choose classroom or moderator.Brainstorm - unlimited answers with copies of previous answers possibleClassroom - unlimited answer but answers can only be used one timeModerator - students submit answer but teacher must approve before it will appearLocked - no access

The next step is to choose answer length. I always allow for the longer characters. Choose 40.

The next step is to create an Admin password. You will want this. I used my email password for this!

Now you will be asked for your email. They will send you the link to your AnswerGarden page.Be sure to uncheck the "Join" if you do not wish to receive emails from them other than the links to your AnswerGarden page.

This is an important step. The next step gives you the option to turn on a SPAM filter. Be sure to turn it on. This will help protect your page from random individuals who often type inappropriate words.

You will now be asked how long you want your page to exist. If you create it on the day you plan to use it, you can use 1 day. Otherwise, click on 1 week.